Mr. Gründungsbüro is leaving Hochschule Offenburg after 36 semesters

Startup support has played an important role at Hochschule Offenburg for many years, and Wolf Blochowitz has been involved for just as long—or, as we must now say, has been a part of it.

It all began 18 years ago with the “SchülerUnternehmenOrtenau” project, which promoted independence among high school and college students by helping them establish student-run companies at secondary schools in the Ortenau region. The students took on the role of mentoring the student-run companies, while the previously independent entrepreneurs took charge of managing the project. Two years later, he led the German component of the Interreg project CLUe, which developed a cross-border cluster of creative industries in collaboration with partners from France and Switzerland.

In 2011, Blochowitz played a key role in establishing a dedicated startup office at Hochschule Offenburg and served as its director until his passing. He advised several hundred students, faculty members, and staff on the topic of “Self-Employment in Academia,” offered countless informational sessions on topics such as “Self-Employment While Studying,” “The Startup Team,” “Taxes + Finance,” “Business Plan,” “How Do I Develop My Startup Idea,” and “Starting a Business with AI,” organized multiple participations in the Campus Cup business plan competition, and guided aspiring entrepreneurs through the maze of funding opportunities. With a university-funded scholarship as part of the MR.SPoC program (Multi-Stage Recruitment with Scholarships for Proof of Concept), Wolf Blochowitz guided startup teams through the individual project phases, from the initial project idea to full implementation. His track record also includes a total of four successfully applied-for EXIST startup grants, the most recent of which was approved on July 2, 2026, for Triply3D. Starting in 2021, he also served as a startup advisor at the OGFLab (Open Game and FabLab) at Hochschule Offenburg.

And because a solid education is usually the foundation for a successful startup, “Mr. Startup Office” was also actively involved in securing numerous third-party funded projects for teaching. One example of this is the Women Professors Program, to which three female professors and several female research assistants owe their positions at Hochschule Offenburg. In addition, Wolf Blochowitz served as coordinator for the 8.5-million-euro project “MINT-College TIEFE—Individually Discovering, Supporting, and Developing Talent,” which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research over two funding periods totaling nine years. In total, he was involved in 25 successful third-party funding proposals totaling approximately 13.8 million euros—often taking the lead in coordinating the proposals within the team.

As proof that this work can be not only dry but also fun, the 65-year-old cited “SAUNA” as an example at his farewell party—though he wasn’t referring to the steam room, but rather to the acronym for the funding project “Seiteneinsteiger,” Dropouts, Career Changers, and Reorientation Support Center. With this, the humorous speaker had the numerous attendees in stitches. Chancellor Dr. Bülent Tarkan expressed regret at his departure on behalf of the university administration, as did Blochowitz’s longtime colleague at the University and friend, Prof. Dr. Thomas Breyer-Mayländer: “Wolf Blochowitz’s work was unique because, from the very beginning, he took the initiative in submitting grant applications. He consistently secured external funding, which then made his next project position—and thus the University’s further development in the area of startup support—possible. His passion for independence and entrepreneurship, combined with his reliability in supporting projects, enabled us as a University to offer and expand our startup support services over the long term.” As his final official act, so to speak, Mr. Start-up Office handed over his office keys to Julia Reichwein, under whose leadership all of Hochschule Offenburg’s startup expertise will be consolidated in the future.